Work-feeding mechanism.



L. H. VOLD;

WORKTBEDING MECHANISM. ABPLIOATION FILED-MAY 1, 1913.

1,080,793, Patented' Dem, 1913i.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

coLuMmA PLANOGRAPH cu.,wAsmNG-rnN, D. c,

L. H. VOLD.

WORK PEEDING MBGHANISM. APPLIGATION FILED MAY'l, 1913.

1,080,?93 Patented De@ 9, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPM C0.. WASHINGTON, D4 L:4

WTE@ STATES PATENT EFCE.

LABS H. VOLI), OF WESTVILLE, NEVJ JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 WLLIAM SELLERS 8aCOM- PANY, INCORPORATED, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OFPENNSYLVANIA.

WORK-EEEDING MECHANISl/I.

Application filed May 1, 1913.

To all whom l? may concern Be it known that l, Lans H. VOLD, a citizenof the United States, residing at lVestville, county of Gloucester, andState of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in1Work-Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

ln Patent No. 833,811 issued to me October 23, 1906, l have shown anddescribed a punching machine, a work table adapted to travel back andforth through the punching machine, and grippers carried by theworktable and adapted to grip the work and pull it through the machine.In an application filed by me April 16, 1913, Serial No. 761,552 l haveshown and described an apparatus for automatically loading the work ontothe work table and unloading it therefrom, adapted for use inconnect-ion with a punching machine or any other machine to which aloading and unloading apparatus could be of useful application.

The present inventio-n is adapted for use in connection with awork-table such as is set forth in my said patent and application,although capable of being applied to a traveling work-table of anyconstruction.

It relates to the grippers for gripping the work and conveying itthrough a punching or other machine, and to mechanism associatedtherewith, and may be said to have the following objects: 1. Tosupportthe work in a proper plane and yet permit it to move verticallyunder stress of the punches or other devices operating upon it. 2. Toenable the grippers to be engaged quickly by a single motion of a lever.3. To enable the grippers to be released automatically and si-lmultaneously. 4i. To regulate, by ample means, the distance from thefront of the work at which the first row of holes will be.

punched by the machine.

rIhe invention consists in the general and specific construction of thegrippers and in the construction and arrangement of devices cooperatingtherewith, whereby the above mentioned objects are attained.

One preferred embodiment of the tion is shown in the accompanying ings,in whichy Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken inven draw-Speciication of Letters Patent.

Patentedec. 9,1913.

Serial No. 764,768.

away, of an apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlargeddetail view of a portion of one of the front grippers and actuatingmechanism, in released position. F ig. 3 is a similar view of a portionof one of the rear grippers. Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of thegrippers in gripping position. is an enlarged section on the line 5-5 ofFig. 1.

o is the machine, shown diagrammatically as a puncl'iino machine, whichoperates upon the work,

Vlhe work-table comprises rack bars o, movable longitudinally on rollersc, and rollers CZ which directly support and guide the werk. Rollers cand CZ are mounted on supports e. The rack-bars b are engaged by drivinggears f, which are actuated from a suitable source o-f power. Therack-bars carry grippers which engage the work either at its front end,or at both ends. By traversing the rack-bars Z) the grippers will travelwith them and draw the work through the machine, say in the direction ofthe arrow, Fig. 1. After the punching operation, the grippers arereleased, the work is removed, the rack-bars returned to their originalposition, and new work placed upon the work-table.

My present invention contemplates the employment of either a set offront grippers only, or both a set of front grippers and a set of reargrippers. Both sets of grippers are similar in construction, althougheach embodies features of construction absent in the other. l havelettered the front grippers g and the rear grippers z.. rThe frontgrippers are carried on a carriage comprising a cross-beam z' mounted oncarriers j secured to the rack-bars b. rl`he rear grippers are carriedon a carriage comprising a cross-beam 7c secured to carriers m mountedon rollers n traveling on the rack-bars and which are therefore readilyadjustable so that the grippers carried thereby maybe positionedrelatively to the front grippers in accordance with the length of thework. It will be understood, therefore, that the force necessary tocarry the work through the iachine proceeds from the front grippers,

the rear grippers cooperating to hold the rear of the work in properposition and alinement.

struction common to both sets `of grippersfeatures of conand will thendescribe the struction peculiar to each set of grip'pers.

Each gripper consists of a pair of pinching jaws, 0 and p, hingedtogether near the gripping point. The work is held by inserted hardenedsteel teeth r, preferably conical points or spuds. r)The lower jaw o isfulcrumed in a stand s, which is supported on the corresponding beam z'or 7s, justable thereon to accommodate the grippers to work of differentwidth or of varying numbers of pieces. The stand s is shown as providedwith a flat face abutting against the flat flange of the beam and lugsextending back of the beam, the lower lug abutting against the `back ofthe said flange of the beam and the upper lug being spaced from saidflange, but being held in fixed relation therewith by the screw 2f,which is tightened against the Hangs of the beam after the stand isadjusted to the desired position. The lower jaw 0` takes a solidabutment against the stand s back of the point 23 at which the jaw 0 ishinged, thus holding up the overhanging gripping end ofthe jaw andenabling it to form a good support for the work to which it is clamped.The inner end of the upper jaw p is forked and a block or bearing u isswiveled between the forks. An eye bolt o extends through the bearing u.The lower end of the eye-bolt o is connected by a pin 'w with aprojection from a locking hand-lever y. Nuts e on the eye-bolt, onopposite sides of the bearing u, permit adjustment to suit variations inthickness of work, this being necessary because, as will be seen, thelocking 'action is limited in stroke.

rlhe hand-lever y is mounted loosely on a short sleeve 10, which iskeyed to the shaft 12 and turns in bearings in the stand s. The shaft 12also turns in fixed bearings 24 attached to the cross beam t or crossbeam 7e. The lever y is thus free to swing on the axis of the shaft. Thelever cannot, however, swing to the right beyond the position shown inFig. 4, the lever in this position bearing against a projection 11 onthe sleeve 10, this projection acting as a stop to prevent the leverbeing thrown beyond the position it must occupy to move the upper jawinto gripping position. The shaft itself is prevented from turning' inthis direction by the stop 25, against which the levers 19 and 13(hereinafter described) secured to the shaft, abut when the lever y andshaft 12 are in gripping position. It will be observed that when thelever is brought into this position, the center of the swiveling blocku, the center of the pivot in eye bolt 'U and the center of Shaft 12,are brought into practically a straight line, forming in effect a togglejoint, which tends to maintain the parts in gripping position. In theact and adv of punching there is a tendency on the part of the work tospring up. It is desirable, to avoid unnecessary strain on the grippingmechanism, that this tendency 'should have play. The constructiondescribed7 in connection with the pivoting of the lower jaw, permitsthis, as, by reason of the location of swivel point 23 of the lower jawsubstantially in line with the centers of the togglejoint construction,a moderate upward movement of the work at the grip point can occ-urwithout seriously aecti'ng thegrip on the work.

1t will be'unders'tood that when the work is brought into positionbetween the jaws, each gripper is clamped Vvto the work by a singlemotion of the lever y, the lever being moved from thep'osition showninFig. 2 (or, in the case of the rear grippers, Fig. 3) to the positionshown in Fig. 4, in which position it bears against 'the stop 11 on 'thesleeve 10 keyedv to the shaft 12 as before described. The shaft cannotbe turnedto allow the projection 11 to move 'downward beyond the pointshown in Fig. 4, but it ,can be turned in the opposite direction, thusforcing the projection 11 against the lever, unlocking the toggle andreleasing the clamping pressure of the jaws upon the work. v

To effect the automatic release of the rear grippers la., the shaft 12coacting with these gri-ppers and supported in bearings 24 on crossbeams z' or 7c, is provided at its/end with a lever 13 (see Fig. 3). Apin 14 is placed on the frame of the punching machine in lthe path ofthe lever 13,-which pin is so positioned that when the work reaches thepoint at which -it is desired to yrelease the grippers, the lever 13strikes the pin 14 and is moved thereby into the position shown in Fig.3, thereby turning the shaft and moving all the levers g/ sleevedthereon intorposition to release all the grippers, as above described.The rear carriage 7am thereupon ceases to advance, the wor'k v.beingotherwise guided for the remainder of its travel. Means are alsoprovided for automatically releasing the front gripper-s g. The frontcarriage z' j being firmly bolted to the traversing rack-bars b, thedistanceY it should move depends upon the length ofthe work to bepunched. The releasing stop should therefore be adjustable. Such a stop16 is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, adjustably secured to a longitudinallyextending angle-bar 17. The stop is struck by a block 18 swingingon anarm 19 secured tothe shaft 12. l/Vhen the block 18 swings in thedirection in which it is actuated by the stop 1G, it abuts against thelower end of the arm 19 and the block and arm move together on theshafts axis, thereby turning the shaft and releasing the frontgrippers.The stop 16 is set to clear block 18 throughout all the length ofpunching. When punching is completed, the work is quickly traversedfarther into the unloading position, at which point the stop 16 isplaced. `When the work is removed and the front grippers returned to beclamped to new work, the inclined rear face of the block strikes thestop and is swung thereby on its pivot so as to clear the stop withoutetfecting any movement ot' the arm 19. It is not possible, therefore,for any breakage to occur on the reversal of the carriage t y'.

After gripping the front edge of the work it is necessary to set it inthe punching machine in the proper line for the :tirst row of holes. Itis desirable to accomplish this quickly and conveniently and without thenecessity of measuring. This l do by the following simple means: Each ofthe front grippers is provided with a stop shoulder 20 located directlyback of the gripping point (see Fig. l). The work is brought solidlyagainst these shoulders before the grippers are closed. r1`he shoulderson the various front grippers are, of course, in the same line, so thatwhen the work, either one piece or a number of pieces, is clamped, itwill be square and true with the carriage t' and parallel with the lineof punches. A distance-block 21 is bolted to one of the rockbars infront of the carriage z' j. rl`he distance block 21 is so positionedthat if the rack-bars are moved rearwardly until the distance-blockcontacts with a iixed stationary abutment or projection 22 on thepunching machine, the front edges of the plates or other work will bedirectly in the path of the centers of the row of punches. Therefore, ifthere be inserted between the abutment 22 and the distance block 21 aspacingblock (as indicated by the double-headed arrow m, Fig. 1) havinga width equal to the distance from the edge of the work to the desiredcenter line of the first row of holes, and if the rack-bars b are movedback until the distance-block 21 abuts against the spacing block and thelatter abuts against the abutment 22, the work will necessarily be solocated that the first row of holes will be punched exactly the rightdistance from the front edge.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. ln a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, or a gripper comprising a pair of jawsextending in the direction of movement of the carriage and hingedtogether near their gripping points, the end of the lower jaw oppositethe gripping end being hinged to the carriage and abutting against thesame, back of its hinged support, thereby limiting the downward movementof the gripping end of the lower jaw and enabling the gripping end ofthe jaw to properly support the work while permitting said gripping endto rise under stress, and manually actuated means, pivotally supportedindependently of the hinged support of the lower jaw, to move the upperjaw into and out of gripping relation to the lower jaw including means,cooperating with the hinged support of the lower jaw, permitting thegripping end of the upper jaw, when in gripping position, to rise, understress, with the gripping end of the lower jaw.

2. 1n a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a gripper comprising a pair of jawsextending in the direction of movement of the carriage and hingedtogether, a lever on the carriage mounted to 'turn on one transverseaxis, one jaw being pivoted on another transverse axis and a memberconnecting the lever and the other jaw and turnable on transverse axesthereon and adapted, with the lever, to form a toggle joint, thereby,when the lever is turned to bring said axes in line, maintaining thesecond jaw in gripping position while permitting the gripping ends ofboth jaws to rise under stress of the work.

8. ln a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a gripper comprising a pair of jawsextending in the direction of movement of the carriage and hingedtogether near their gripping points, the end of the lower jaw oppositethe gripping end being ulcrumed on one transverse axis on the carriageand abutting thereagainst, a lever on the carriage mounted to turn onano-ther transverse axis, and a member connecting the lever and the endof the upper jaw opposite the gripping end and turnable on transverseaxes on said lever and upper jaw and adapted with the lever to form atoggle joint.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a gripper comprising a pair of jawshinged together near their gripping points, a lever on the carriagemounted to turn on a transverse axis, a block swiveled on the end of onejaw opposite the gripping end, a bolt secured to said block, a pinconnecting the bolt with the lever, and a stop fixed relatively to theshaft and limiting the movement of the lever when the same is moved tobring the center of the swiveling block, the axis of the pin and theaxis otl the lever into alinement.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a stand transversely adjustable onthe carriage, a pair of jaws extending in the direction of movement ofthe carriage and hinged together, the end of the lower aw opposite thegrip- SiO van

ping end hinged to the stand on one transverse axis and abutting againstthe stand back of its hinged connection therewith to aord asupport forthe work, a lever turnable on another axis extending transverselythrough the stand, and a member connecting the lever and the end of theupper jaw opposite the gripping end and turnable on transverse axes onsaid lever and jaw and adapted with the lever to form a toggle joint.

`6. In a -machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally `movable ca-rriage, of a stand transversely adjustable-on the carriage, a pair of jaws hinged together, a shaft extendingtransversely through the stand, a lever loosely sleeved on the shaft,connections between the lever and one of the jaws adapted to be operatedby the lever to move the jaw into gripping position, and a stop on theshaft limiting the movement of the lever in one direction and adaptedwhen the shaftv is turned in the opposite direction to retract the'lever and thereby through said connections release the grip of saidjaw.

7 ln a machine ofthe character described, the combination `with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a stand transversely adjustable onthe carriage, a pair of jaws hinged together, a shaft extendingtransversely through the stand, a lever loosely sleeved on the shaft, abolt connecting the lever and one of said ljaws kand turnable ontransverse axes thereon and adapted, with the lever, to form a togglejoint, a-'stop turning with the shaft adapted to engage the leveradjacent to the pivot of the bolt thereon and limit the move ment of thelever after the same has been turned rto bring said axes and the centerof the shaft into alinement, and means adapted to turn theshaft andthereby cause the stop to retract the lever and unlock the vtoggle andvthereby release the grip ofthe jaw.

S. ln a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movablelcarriage, of a stand transversely adjustable onthe carriage, a shaft extending transversely through the stand, a leverloosely sleeved on the shaft, a pair of jaws hinged together near theirgripping points, the end of the lower jaw opposite the gripping endextending under the stand and abutting against the same to aord asupport for the work, a block swiveled on the end of the upper jawopposite the gripping end, a bolt secured to said block, a pinconnecting the bolt with the lever, a stop turning with the shaft andadapted to engage the lever adjacent t0 said pin and limit the movementof the lever after the same has been turned to bring the center of theswivelingrblock, the cent-er of the pin and the center of the shaft intoalinement, and means to tur-n the shaft and thereby lcause the lstop toretract. the lever and unlock the toggle `and thereby cause the grippingend of the upper aw to recede from the :gripping end of the lower jaw.

v9. ln a machine'of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a plurality of grippers on thecarriage, devices to actuate the respective grippers to cause them togrip the work, a shaft carried by the carriage, means turning with theshaft adapted when the shaft is turned in one ydirection tosimultaneously actuate said devices to cause the grippers to release thework, a stop stationary relative to the carriage, and an arm on theshaft adapted to be actuated by the `stop to so turn the shaft.

l0. In -a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a gripper comprising a pair of jawsextending in the direction of movement of the carriage and hingedtogether, a toggle joint connected at one end with one jaw and pivotedat the other end on the carriage, the other aw being pivoted on thecarriage on an axis different Vfrom the axis on the carriage on whichthe last namedend vofthe toggle joint is pivoted, and means to move thetoggle into its extended position thereby causing the first jaw to swinginto :gripping relation with the other jaw. c

l1. 'ln a machine 'of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage,rof a lower gripping jaw extending inthe direction of the movement of the carriage and at its rear endportion pivotally-supported on the carriage, an upper gripping jawpivoted near its front end to the lower jaw, a transverse shaft on thecarriage above the pivotal support of the lower jaw, the rear endportion of the upper jaw extending above the shaft and a toggle jointconnection between the shaft and the rear end portion of the upper jaw,the pivot ofthe lower jaw and `the points of connection between thetoggle and the shaft and the upper jaw being substantially in line,thereby permitting the gripping ends of the jaws, when in grippingposition, to rise under stress without affecting the grip of the jawsupon the work.

12. In `a machine of the Vcharacter described, the combination with acarriage, off a series of grippers each comprising a pair of jaws hingedtogether, a toggle joint connected with one jaw of'each pair, meansincluding hand operated levers, to move each toggle independently intoand out of its extended position, and means independent of said Eleversto simultaneously move all the toggles out of their extended positionsthereby opening the ,j aws of all -thegrippers 13. In a machine of theCharacter described, the combination with a carriage, of agripper-*comprising a pair of jaws hinged together, a transverselyextending shaft moving with the carriage, a toggle joint connected withone jaw, the two members of the toggle pivoted o-n said shaft and jawrespectively, manually operable means to move the toggle into itsextended position thereby causing said jaw to swing into grippingrelation with the other jaw, and means turning with the shaft adapted tomove the toggle out of its extended position thereby moving thefirst-named jaw out of operative relation with the other jaw.

141-. 1n a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a gripper comprising a pair of jawshinged together, a transversely extending shaft moving with thecarriage, a toggle joint connected with one jaw, the two members of thetoggle turning on axes on said shaft and jaw respectively, means to movethe toggle into its extended position thereby causing said jaw to swinginto gripping relation with the. other jaw, a stop on the shaft adaptedto engage the toggle and limit its movement beyond such extendedposition and adapted when the shaft is turned in the opposite directionto unlock the toggle and retract said aw.

15. In a machine of the character described, the combination with acarriage, of a gripper comprising a pair of jaws hinged together, atransversely extending shaft movable with the carriage, a lever pivotedon the shaft, a member pivotally connected with both the lever and oneof the jaws, said lever and member together forming a toggle adapted, byoperating the lever, to be moved into its extended position and therebyswing said jaw into gripping relation with the other jaw, and meansturning with the shaft adapted to move the toggle and lever intoposition to swing the first-named jaw out of gripping relation with theother j aw.

16. 1n a machine of the character described, the combination with acarriage, of a gripper comprising a pair of jaws hinged together, atransversely extending shaft movable with the carriage, a lever pivotedon the shaft, a member pivotally connected with both the lever and oneo-f the jaws, said lever and member together forming a toggle adapted,by operating the lever, to be moved into its extended position andthereby swing said jaw into gripping relation with the other jaw, asto-p on the shaftadapted to prevent the movement of the toggle beyondits extended locking position, and means to turn the shaft to cause saidstop to unlock the toggle and thereby swing the first named jaw out ofgripping relation with the other jaw and retract the lever into itsunlocking position.

17. In a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a gripperfcomprising a pair of jawshinged together, a transversely extending shaft moving with thecarriage, a toggle joint connected with one jaw, the two members of thetoggle turning on axes on said shaft and jaw respectively, means to movethe toggle into its extended position thereby causing said jaw to swinginto gripping relation with the other jaw, a stop stationary relative tothe carriage, an arm on the shaft adapted to be actuated by the stop toturn the shaft, and means carried by the shaft adapted, when the shaftis so turned, to unlock the toggle and release said jaw.

18. In a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudr nally movable carriage, of a transversely extending shaftcarried by said carriage, a plurality of stands adjustable transverselyYof said carriage and through which said shaft extends, grippers, onefor each stand, each gripper comprising a pair of jaws hinged together,levers, one for each gripper, turning loosely on the shaft, a boltpivoted on each lever and on one jaw of the corresponding lever andforming with the lever a toggle joint, stops on the shaft, one adaptedto engage each lever and limit its movement in one direction and adaptedwhen the shaft is turned in the opposite direction to move the lever andunlock the toggle, a stop stationary relative to the carriage, and anarm on the shaft adapted to be actuated by the last named stop to turnthe shaft and thereby cause the first named stops to simultaneouslyunlock all the togles. g 19. 1n a machine of the character described,the combination with a longitudinally movable carriage, of a pluralityof grippers on the carriage, devices to actuate the respective grippersto cause them to grip the work, a shaft carried by the carriage, meansturning with the shaft is turned in one direction to simultaneouslyactuate said devices to cause the grippers to release the work, a stopstationary relative to the carriage, an arm on lthe shaft, and a blockpivoted on and adapted to abut against the arm and engage the stop inthe travel of the carriage, thereby causing the arm to be moved to soturn the Shaft.

20. 1n a machine of the character described, the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of a plurality of grippers on thecarriage, devices to actuate the respective grippers to cause them togrip the work, a shaft carried by the carriage, means turning with theshaft adapted when the shaft is turned in one direction tosimultaneously actuate said devices to cause the grippers to release thework, a stop stationary relative to the carriage, an arm on the shaftadapted when.

to abut against the arm and engage the stop in the travel of thecarriage in one di-l rection, thereby causing the arm to be moved to soturn the shaft, said block having aninclined face adapted, in themovement of the carriage in the vopposite direction, to engage the stopand cause said blocl; to turn on its axis and thereby override the stopwithout imparting movement to the shaft.

2l. In an apparatus of the character described', the combination with alongitudinally movable carriage, of grippers on the carriage adapted toengage and traverse the work, means limiting the forward movement of thework relatively to the grippers, a distance block fixed relative to thecar riage, a machine for operating upon the work, and an abutment fixedlrelatively to the machine, and adapted to be engaged by ksaid distanceblock when the carriage is moved forward, thus bringing the forward edgeof the work in a predetermined position relatively to the machine,thereby enabling' a spacing block to be inserted loetween said distanceblock and abutment to determine the distance from the forward edge ofthe work at which operationsv upon the work shall begin.

in testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, atPhiladelphia, on this 29th day of April, 1913.

Y LABS' H. VOLD. Witnesses:

COLEMAN SELLERS, Jr., GEO. H. BENZORD, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Y Washington, D. C.

